Somnia scanned her environment as she’d been taught. There indeed were two Honor Guards approaching her from behind the dark wooden wall; A Class B Honor Guard with neon-green eyes and pointed ears like an elf, and a Class C Honor Guard with long black horns like a bull. She shook her head.

Are they waiting for me to go in so they can ambush me? What if I just… don’t go in? Fools. I’ll end this quickly.

“Hey!” Somnia shouted. “Come out! Let’s not waste each other’s time.”

The two obeyed, stepping from behind the wall. They were dressed in outfits that looked like white and purple versions of her Family Uniform, both with rapiers drawn. Somnia wasn’t sure why they had them out, though. Those things were decorative at best. Not that that was any sort of surprise. The Honor Guard traditionally didn’t serve as a makeshift army. Saikojin Shoguns normally had personal armies and guards, but given Futakuchi-Onna’s expansion efforts it made sense she’d turn these guys into a proper fighting force.

“Ma’am,” The Class C Honor Guard called. They both walked a bit closer. “ We’ve received reports from local shopkeepers that you’ve been threatening and intimidating clerks for their weapons. Is this true?”

There’s no way this is their angle, is there?

“No, it isn’t. I have no reason to–”

“That ain’t what we heard,” The Class B Honor Guard interrupted in a thick Burnish accent. As they continued to approach, Somnia noticed he was a whole head shorter than the horned Class C. “They told me you were threatenin’ to hang a man by his tie if he didn’t give ya those knuckles for free. You callin’ ‘im a liar?”

Somnia took a deep breath, doing her best to maintain composure. It was like her father said: Fighting emotionally is like fighting blindly. Anger needed to be the fuel, not the fire. She decided to let them finish their performance as she collected herself.

“Listen, ma’am,” The Class C said. They were both a few meters away. In range.

I bet I could shoot the short one’s head off in one… No, let’s calm down. If I kill them, Futakuchi-Onna will retaliate and that’ll make war with the Oni inevitable. Knockouts only. Knockouts only…

“We can work out a deal. As you’ve likely noticed, Saikou is still a growing city. The tourist areas have been renovated and modernized, but the residential and local areas are still…” He shook his head. “They could use some work. I can see from your kimono that you’re well off. What do you say? Share the wealth with the city and we’ll let you off the–”

“Are you kidding me?!” Somnia shouted.

Goddamn it!

She could practically hear Archie’s “She was doing so well” from yesterday. Well, she was already in deep, so she might as well go all the way.

“Do you understand the power you two have? You aren’t just random civilians. You are part of the Honor Guard! You represent the Saikou Prefecture, yet here you two are acting like common criminals! Do you understand the gravity of the decisions you’re making?!” Somnia pointed furiously toward the city. “Acting like this affects them! Do you understand that the–”

Why do you waste your time morally grandstanding for trash such as this? It would be far more efficient to kill them where they stand.

Somnia paused as her mother’s hypothetical words echoed in her mind. If she were here, she would’ve encouraged Somnia to kill them. Hell, she would’ve killed them before Somnia even got a chance to fight them. Her mother had no tolerance for people like these two, but she had no tolerance for a lot of people in Minashire. It was part of the reason she left; her inability to do anything meaningful made staying here maddening. It was like… well… it was like she imagined Fallen Star felt inside Rui’s Mindspace.

“L-look,” Somnia said, composing herself. “Acting like common crooks and badgering the Oni will lead to the destruction of Saikou. What happens when you piss off the wrong person? What happens when you piss off the Oni enough for them to make a move?”

“We ain’t paid to give a shit,” The Class B shrugged. “That’s the Shogun’s job. I love my city, and I’m prepared to die for my city.”

“And are they?!” Somnia shouted, pointing again at the city. “They are the ones at the biggest risk! When they die, you can’t just apologize to them for making a bad decision!”

“Should that come, we’ll die as brothers and sisters. Together as a community.”

People like them shouldn’t have power.

“They do not deserve their status.”

People like them shouldn’t represent an entire Prefecture.

“Show these whelps the terror of the Galerose Empire.”

Eliminate them.

“Eliminate them.”

“No, you won’t be dying as a community.” Somnia spat, a smile tugging at her lips. “You two will be dying as failures to your Shogun. I’ll make sure of that.”

Somnia cycled her aura, gathering it to a point at the tips of the index and middle fingers on her right hand. Before either of them could react, she shot the Class C in his right eye. As the man screamed in pain she charged the Class B and punched him in his face. The shorter man was sent flying into the wall, leaving her alone with the Class C. She looked down at him, a hideous smile clear on her face.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“I’m done trying to reason with you,” Somnia said, gathering aura in her right foot.

She was about to stomp down on the Class C’s neck but the incapacitated Honor Guard grabbed her foot and slammed her into the ground. Somnia guarded a barrage of punches and kicks from the one-eyed Class C. At the same time, she sensed the Class B slinking around somewhere in the distance, making it difficult to focus on the opponent in front of her.

Perhaps it was a gift, or it was a curse, then, that the Class B Honor Guard finally popped up when the Class B finished his assault. As Somnia stood to her feet, she found herself enveloped in a cloud of purple aura. It was gone just as quickly as it came, but the effect of the blast lingered far longer than Somnia would’ve liked.

Poison…

Moments like this made her envious of people with Systems. If she had one, her health would be ticking down. Every muscle in her body ached and tensed as stabbing pain shot through her body at sudden intervals. Despite knowing how to handle attacks like this, she didn’t enjoy–

“Now!” The Class C shouted.

The Class B Honor Guard, who’d been trying his best to hide in the trees, shot at Somnia with a drill-like bullet the length of a stiletto and as wide as her forearm. She sidestepped it, but the Class C met her and immediately rammed her. The man acted like the bull he looked like, running for meters with Somnia caught between his horns. He sent her through the wall, onto a busy street in the fashion district. Somnia sensed the Class B following behind on the rooftops, but she couldn’t worry about that while this Class C was treating her like a ragdoll.

The Class C Honor Guard slammed Somnia into the ground, once again pelting her with a barrage of attacks. Fortunately for her, though, his attacks weren’t as fast or as strong as they’d been before. Unfortunately for her, a crowd had gathered around them. She agreed with Yugo that collateral damage needed to be kept to a minimum, but given their willingness to take this fight to the streets she doubted they felt the same way. If things got bad, she’d need to coat herself in aura to absorb some damage. It’d prevent pain, but it’d eat through her aura faster than any attack would.

Just as Somnia prepared to finish this fight, the Class B Honor Guard did something she never would’ve expected; he shot one of those drill bullets at a crowd. Somnia panicked, running in position to shoot it down with a quick blast of aura but got tackled from behind into an empty building. When she stood to her feet, she was once again covered by that poison cloud attack the Class B had.

“You’d target civilians?” Somnia growled to no one in particular. Still, the Class C answered.

“As I… said… They are… ready to die… for their… home…”

Somnia had to fight her most basic urges. It’d be so easy to kill him. It’d be so easy to rip this man’s horns off and stab him with them and tear that Class B on the roof limb from limb. If she did that, though, how would she look? How would the Galerose Family look? If she wanted to “climb the ladder”, she needed to play the game. Somnia clenched her fists hard enough to draw blood and coated her body in aura.

Once again, the Class B shot at the crowd. This time, though, Somnia caught the drill shot in her hand and slammed it to the ground. The Class C had begun its tackle, but Somnia stopped the man with a palm. When the man looked up, panting like a dog with a forehead that was hot to the touch, she knew this man was out of the fight despite hardly having touched him.

The Class C was a Curse User, and a pretty bad one. Curse Users cast their Skills with their Vitality while Myth Users cast their Skills with Aura. In System terms: Curse Skills use HP while Myth Skills use MP. It was why Curse Users were normally stronger; they had no limiters. Because they had no limiters, though, they were far more likely to die in combat.

It was for that reason that Somnia didn’t need to hit as hard as she could’ve to dispatch the Class C. One good knee to the stomach was enough to send him to his knees. The Class B was a bit harder to beat, though. He was a trained Honor Guard, but he wasn’t a trained Galerose. A couple non-lethal strikes to his vital areas were enough to knock him out. When he was beaten, Somnia gathered his body and threw it on top of the Class C in a neat pile in the middle of the crowded street.

As she looked down at the two, a wave of dissatisfaction washed over her like a tide. It would’ve been so much quicker to kill them. It would be so easy to finish them off. There was no moral reason to leave them alive. None at all. None. Not only did they attempt to sacrifice the townspeople for a simple skirmish, but they had no reservations about damning them all in their battle with the Oni!

Not everyone deserves power. Not everyone deserves status.

Somnia knew her problem wasn’t with these two Honor Guards, though. She was projecting, and she knew it. These two were like flies when compared to the true scourge of Minashire. She imagined her target… her prey. How good would it feel to kill her and free the Galerose Family from her greedy clutches? Somnia panted with pure ecstasy.

I can’t wait for the day I get to tear you apart, M–

The townspeople hadn’t moved. They still circled her, watching her with uncomfortable expressions as she smiled down at the unconscious bodies of the two Honor Guards. She reddened.

“Sorry! I… I’m not the bad guy. I promise!”

Somnia knelt down, pretending to check for a pulse. She noticed they both still had their rapiers tucked at their side. So they really were decorative…

Somnia stole one.

The crowd, who’d been silent for the longest time, finally began to clap and cheer. She tilted her head, unsure what to make of the sight.

“Are you with the Oni?” One of the cheering women clapped.

Am I? I suppose I am in a way.

“No,” Somnia ended up saying. This wasn’t the time to explain her whole family tree. When she spoke again, she took a page out of her godfather’s book and acted like the influential figure she wanted to be one day. “I am a lone woman who has no tolerance for those who would abuse their power!”

Ugh. That sounded terrible!

The people cheered. The man from earlier stepped forward with a smile on his face. “You’re gonna have a busy night, then. Between you and me, some of the Honor Guard are amazing. Real pillars of the community! Others, though? They’re just like those two.”

“So be it,” Somnia called. “Those two do not deserve the power they were bestowed. I have made it my duty to see to it that they lose that power before my stay in this city has ended!”

More people clapped, though they were noticeably more subdued with their applause after that comment. Somnia recalled that Futakuchi-Onna could shapeshift, and so could theoretically be in this crowd. The people likely knew that and didn’t want to be the next person stopped by the Honor Guard. Far more pressingly, though, Somnia couldn’t help but replay her words back in her mind over and over again. Why did she talk like that? No wonder her godfather hated talking about his past. Was it filled with moments like… this? She cringed.

At least the people like it.

Somnia fought embarrassment as she bowed to the people. After exchanging some words with a few more locals, she powerwalked to the Tiger Lily Hotel, keeping her head buried in her phone as she checked on the others.